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Column 2 Includables

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2019-05-11: Social Media Postees

Trump Has Defied Nearly All Subpoenas. What Can the House Do?
Prof. Marjorie Cohn | globalresearch.ca | 2019-05-11
After the redacted Mueller report was made public, Donald Trump tweeted, "No Collusion, No Obstruction, Complete and Total EXONERATION." But when the House Judiciary Committee asked to see Mueller's full report, Trump said no way. | The Constitution gives Congress …globalresearch.ca/trump-defied-nearly-al…

Women of Color Call on Congress to End Ban on Federal Abortion Funding
Staff | truthout.org | 2019-05-11
As women of color fighting for reproductive health and rights, we must speak truth to power because too often the policies of those in power do not reflect the priorities or lived truths of our communities. We see decisions that time and again ignore the daily struggle our communities must contend with as a result of policies that systematically hinder our ability to thrive — and that's exactly what happened in Democrats' Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (LHHS) funding bill. | Although we welcome the inclusion of much-needed protections to Title X family planning funding…truthout.org/articles/women-of-color-cal…

South Africa: President Cyril Ramaphosa Wins With 57% of Votestelesurenglish.net | 2019-05-11
South Africa's Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) confirmed Saturday the victory of the African National Congress (ANC) and president Cyril Ramaphosa with 57.50% of the vote. | RELATED: | Partial Vote Counting in South Africa Confirms Victory by ANC | ‚Äã‚Äã‚Äã‚Äã‚&Auml…telesurenglish.net/news/South-Africa-Pre…

Lobbyists Working to Undermine Medicare For All Host Congressional Staff at Luxury Resort
Lee Fang | theintercept.com | 2019-05-11
At a luxury resort just outside of the nation's capital last month, around four dozen senior congressional staffers decamped for a weekend of relaxation and discussion at Salamander Resort & Spa. It was an opportunity for Democrats and Republicans to come together and listen to live music from the Trailer Grass Orchestra, sip surprisingly impressive glasses of Virginia wine — and hear from health care lobbyists focused on defeating Medicare for All. | The event was hosted by a group called Center Forward and featured a lecture from industry lobbyists leading the charge on undermining progressive health care…theintercept.com/2019/05/11/health-care-…

What People in Kentucky Coal Country Really Think About a Green New Deal
Staff | truthout.org | 2019-05-11
In late March, Republican Rep. Andy Barr of Kentucky — a member of the Congressional Coal Caucus — invited Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York to come to his state to talk with coal miners about what her proposed Green New Deal "would mean for their families, their paychecks." The invitation came after Ocasio-Cortez spoke passionately in Congress against the i…truthout.org/articles/what-people-in-ken…

Democrats Against Impeachment Invite Autocracy and a Loss in 2020
Staff | truthout.org | 2019-05-11
Long before Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report dropped, it became crystal clear that the sitting president of the United States has committed serious crimes. We need leaders in Congress who are ready and willing to rise to the occasion by checking and balancing the executive branch. Failing to impeach will only embolden our kleptocrat-in-chief. | Many supporters of impeachment proceedings have…truthout.org/articles/democrats-against-…

Colombia: Leftist Congressman Denounces Threats at IACHRtelesurenglish.net | 2019-05-11
Colombia's leftist congressman Ivan Cepeda has attended a hearing at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) in Kingston, Jamaica to denounce death threats against him as a consequence of his role in the Colombian Supreme Court of Justice (CSJ) in a case against former President Alvaro Uribe. | Cepeda says Uribe was using bribes and and witness tampering the case against him that charges Uribe ordered paramilitary groups to carry out massacres in the department of Antioqu…telesurenglish.net/news/Colombia-Leftist…

Texas Passes Bill to End the Shackling of Pregnant Women in Prison
Texas Tribune | theantimedia.com | 2019-05-11
(TT) — The Texas Senate unanimously passed a bill Friday that would end the shackling of pregnant women in prison and would provide female inmates with more — and higher quality — menstrual products. House Bill 650, authored by Rep. James White, R-Hillister, is a comprehensive bill that addresses many issues related to the conditions of the state's …

Open letter to Senate from climate action groups demands an end to fossil fuel dependence in US and Europe
Ashley Curtin | nationofchange.org | 2019-05-11
Sending more fossil fuels to Europe and across the globe is not the answer a coalition of 200 national climate action groups wrote in an open letter to the Senate. As the Senate gets ready to debate the European Energy Security and Diversification Act of 2019 (S. 704), which passed the House in March, climate …nationofchange.org/2019/05/11/open-lette…

Trump Lawyer Giuliani Threatens, Then Abandons, Ukraine Trip
Staff | truthdig.com | 2019-05-11
NEW YORK–Democrats denounced a plan by President Donald Trump's personal attorney to push Ukraine to open investigations that he hopes could benefit Trump politically, saying it was an overt attempt to recruit foreign help to influence a U.S. election. | But lawyer Rudy Giuliani has scrapped plans to visit Ukraine, citing concerns about who he would be dealing with there. | "I've decided … I'm not going to go to the Ukraine," Giuliani told Fox News on Friday night. "I'm not going to go because I think I'm walking into a group of people that are enemies of the president … in some cases enemies of the Uni…truthdig.com/articles/trump-lawyer-giuli…

Biden caught in immigration hypocrisy after rediscovered clip shows him demanding border fencert.com | 2019-05-11
Joe Biden is being called out for immigration virtue-signaling after a video of the Democratic candidate calling for a fence "40 stories high" at the US-Mexican border to keep out the Mexicans bringing in drugs resurfaced. | …rt.com/usa/459022-biden-build-fence-hypo…

States Bring Price-Fixing Suit Against Generic Drug Makers
Staff | truthdig.com | 2019-05-11
BOSTON–Attorneys general from more than 40 states are alleging the nation's largest generic drug manufacturers conspired to artificially inflate and manipulate prices for more than 100 different generic drugs, including treatments for diabetes, cancer, arthritis and other medical conditions. | The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Connecticut on Friday, also names 15 individual senior executives responsible for sales, marketing and pricing. | Connecticut Attorney General William Tong, a Democrat, said investigators obtained evidence implicating 20 firms. | "We have hard evidence that shows the generic drug…truthdig.com/articles/states-bring-price…

House Democrats Subpoena Trump Tax Returns
Staff | truthout.org | 2019-05-11
After Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin repeatedly refused to comply with requests to hand over President Donald Trump's tax returns — which some legal experts say is clearly required under federal law — the House Ways and Means Committee late Friday subpoenaed both Mnuchin and IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig for the documents.truthout.org/articles/house-democrats-su…

Giuliani cancels trip to Ukraine, denounces 'enemies' of the US in Kievrt.com | 2019-05-11
Rudy Giuliani has canceled his trip to Kiev where he planned to push the probe into "collusion" between Ukrainian officials and the Democratic Party, stating that the country's new president is surrounded by "enemies" of the US. | …rt.com/usa/459025-giuliani-ukraine-trip-…

'You're making yourselves look weak': Bill Maher goads Dems for fruitless Trump complaints (VIDEO)rt.com | 2019-05-11
HBO's Bill Maher sent a shot across the bow of Democrats constantly complaining about the Trump administration, saying they should either "do something or stop talking about it." | …rt.com/usa/459081-bill-maher-targets-dem…

Biden Pledged Not to Take Special Interest Money, But Not His PAC
Staff | truthout.org | 2019-05-11
In his bid to become the Democratic presidential nominee, former Vice President Joe Biden pledged to reject contributions from lobbyists and corporate PACs. But he has quietly taken in more than $30,000 in donations from corporate interests through a political action committee that he created in 2017. | Biden founded American Possibilities in 2017 to suppo…truthout.org/articles/biden-pledged-not-…

US: New Rule Will Evict Up to 55,000 Legal Immigrant Childrentelesurenglish.net | 2019-05-11
A new rule has been proposed by the U.S. President Donald Trump's administration Friday, which the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has inferred will lead to the eviction of over 55,000 children with legal residency or citizenship. | RELATED: | Trump Bids to Send Migrants to Democrat-run Sanctuary Cities | The proposed plan seeks to "require the verification of the eligible immigration status of all recipients of [subsidized housing] who are under the age of 62,"telesurenglish.net/news/US-New-Rule-Will…

No Enforcement of Law While Democrat-Republicans Do Nothing
Register Peace & Freedom or Green | indybay.org | 2019-05-11
The Embassy Protection Collective at the Venezuelan Embassy in Washington, D.C. are now facing no power or water and no delivery of food or medicine because the United States Secret Service and the Washington, D.C. police refuse to enforce the law while the Democrat-Republicans stay silent.indybay.org/newsitems/2019/05/10/1882337…

What is the state of rule of law and the role of precedent in our federal courts?
Green Party | indybay.org | 2019-05-11
Niebyl-Proctor Library, 6501 Telegraph Ave. at 65th in North Oakland | DIRECTIONS: One block north of Alcatraz on the West side of Telegraph, wheelchair accessible. Buses pass by regularly. Ashby BART is approximately 7 blocks away.indybay.org/newsitems/2019/05/11/1882338…

The alarming rise of civilian deaths in the war on terror
Phyllis Bennis | nationofchange.org | 2019-05-11
New reports show an escalation in civilian casualties from U.S. operations in Syria, Afghanistan and Somalia — and a pattern of U.S. denial about the scale of the problem.nationofchange.org/2019/05/11/the-alarmi…

Afghan Journalist, Women's Education Advocate Shot Deadtelesurenglish.net | 2019-05-11
Gunmen shot and killed a former television journalist and cultural adviser to the Afghan parliament in Kabul Saturday, underlining threats to women and drawing widespread condemnation. | RELATED | Afghan Women Activists Wary of 'Superficial' Female Presence in Taliban Peace Talks | Mina Mangal, who used to report for prominent TV station Ariana News, was killed by two unidentified men on a motorbike close to her home in eastern Kabul in a public place, police…telesurenglish.net/news/Afghan-Journalis…

80 Million Korean People Must Not Be Reduced to a DC Bargaining Chip
Staff | truthout.org | 2019-05-11
The April 27 Panmunjom Declaration was indeed a historic event. The path to peace and reconciliation since then has been rocky, but the effort cannot be allowed to fail, or even to be delayed. It is too important. The promise is too great to be lost, the costs of failure are too grim to contemplate. | –Noam Chomsky to TruthoutOn the one-year anniversary of the April 27 Panmunjom Declaration, the landmark inter-Korean agree…truthout.org/articles/80-million-korean-…

Where's Tulsi? The Hill forgets Gabbard when listing candidates who qualify for primary debatesrt.com | 2019-05-10
A report by The Hill on Democratic candidates qualifying for the party's debates has one glaring omission — Hawaii Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard. | …rt.com/usa/459002-tulsi-gabbard-omitted-…

Iraqi Immigrants Deserve Their Day in Courtaclu.org | 2019-05-10
My dad was almost deported without a fair hearing. But a new bill could ensure that doesn't happen again | This week, two of my home-state congressmen introduced bipartisan legislation to ensure that approximately 1,000 Iraqis who are now at risk of deportation or detention are given two years to have their immigration cases heard. I'm so grateful to Congressman Andy Levin (D-Mich.) and Congressman John Moolenaar (R-Mich.) for their action because no other family should ha…aclu.org/blog/immigrants-rights/deportat…

Boondoggle, Inc.: Making Sense of the $1.25 Trillion National Security State Budget
William D. Hartung | globalresearch.ca | 2019-05-10
In its latest budget request, the Trump administration is asking for a near-record $750 billion for the Pentagon and related defense activities, an astonishing figure by any measure. If passed by Congress, it will, in fact, be one of the …globalresearch.ca/1-25-trillion-national…

Nadler: Subpoenas needed to stop 'tyrannical' Trump
Mark Gruenberg | peoplesworld.org | 2019-05-10
WASHINGTON–Congress must issue and enforce subpoenas against "tyrannical" GOP President Donald Trump — for everything from the entire Mueller report and its background materials to Trump's tax returns — the chair of the committee that would handle impeaching Trump says. In a long interview May 9 on the PBS Newshour, Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., stopped …peoplesworld.org/article/nadler-subpoena…

Wayne Wharton: 'All power to the workers, Treaty now!'
pip.hinman | greenleft.org.au | 2019-05-10
Prominent Aboriginal elder Wayne Wharton is making a tilt for the senate in Queensland this election, campaigning on issues such as justice for Aboriginal people, justice reinvestment and an improved aged care system. | Wharton told Green Left Weekly: "The systems that we've had for the last 230 years is broken, they're useless." | These include the legal system which, he says, is based on a "feudal system of punishment" instead of rehabilitation, and the two-party system, in which the big parties have become dominated by "top-end-of-town corruption". | Wharton believes the government should reflect the diversity…greenleft.org.au/content/wayne-wharton-all-power-workers-treaty-now

Pedagogical Terrorism and Hope in the age of Fascist Politics
Henry Giroux | counterpunch.org | 2019-05-10
Something sinister and horrifying is happening to liberal democracies all over the globe.Democratic institutions such as the independent media, schools, the legal system, certain financial institutions, and higher education are under siegeworldwide. Some of the latest examples of this can be found in the United States with the resurgence of vigilantes and right-wing militia groups along the southern border and the intrusion of tech-based educational practices into schools producing curricula that some parents claim turn kids into zombies. Trump's continued attack on higher education offers another highly visible…counterpunch.org/2019/05/10/pedagogical-…

Bernie Sanders calls for national ban on fracking
Ashley Curtin | nationofchange.org | 2019-05-10
Sen. Bernie Sanders announced a need for a national ban on fracking, which is part of his sweeping climate agenda as he campaigns for the 2020 Democratic presidential nominee. While scientific studies conclude fracking poses a threat to climate, air quality and water supply, Sanders said it is a major contributor to the world's climate crisis.Fracking is a danger to our water supply. It's a danger to the air we breathe. It causes earthquakes. It's highly explosive. And it's contributing to climate change. We need to ban it nationwide. pic.twitter.com/acF22iQLRy– Bern…nationofchange.org/2019/05/10/bernie-san…

Don't go Joe–Biden passes union protest to attend big money fundraiser
Mark Gruenberg | peoplesworld.org | 2019-05-10
LOS ANGELES–To answer the obvious question, no, Joe Biden did not cross a picket line on the way to a fundraiser in Los Angeles on May 8. But the former vice president, now a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, and thought to appeal to at least one wing of the union movement–older white guys–may …peoplesworld.org/article/dont-go-joe-bid…

Bernie Sanders and the Movement That Might Have Been
Louis Proyect | counterpunch.org | 2019-05-10
As I gird my loins for a renewed ideological struggle against Bernie Sanders's bid to become the Democratic Party's nominee to run against Donald Trump, I thought it advisable to get up to speed by reading Jeffrey St. Clair's "Bernie & The Sandernistas: Field Notes From a Failed Revolution" that was published in 2016. Since…counterpunch.org/2019/05/10/bernie-sande…

The Democrats and the Mueller Report: "Muellerisation"
Dr. Binoy Kampmark | globalresearch.ca | 2019-05-10
The psychic problems facing the Democrats continue to bite, and with their foiled efforts to see the full, unredacted report of the Mueller Report, they look distracted, confused and bitter. In politics, the sense of vengeance and retribution has a …globalresearch.ca/democrats-muellerizati…

Elizabeth Warren probably has a plan for that
Derek Royden | nationofchange.org | 2019-05-10
Until now, it was unthinkable in American politics that the left-wing of the Democratic party would become such a force and Elizabeth Warren deserves at least a share of the credit for this.nationofchange.org/2019/05/10/elizabeth-…

House Democrats issue new subpoena for Trump's tax returnsrt.com | 2019-05-10
The US House Ways and Means Committee has issued a subpoena for President Donald Trump's tax returns after a prior request under the tax code was rebuffed with the argument it lacked "legitimate legislative purpose." | …rt.com/usa/459013-trump-tax-return-subpo…

Giuliani heads to Kiev to push for probes into pro-Clinton 'meddling' & firm that hired Biden's sonrt.com | 2019-05-10
Donald Trump's lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, is going to Kiev to advocate for inquiries that could help the reelection bid of his boss. Those include claims of Democratic "collusion" in 2016 and the alleged corruption of Joe Biden. | …rt.com/usa/458978-ukraine-biden-probe-co…

Golan is Syria!
Sara Flounders | workers.org | 2019-05-10
A demonstration in front of the Israeli Mission in New York City denounced Trump's recognition of Israel's 52-year illegal annexation and occupation of Golan, a province of Syria. The protest was held May 6 — Martyrs' Day in Syria and Lebanon, and for over 100 years a commemoration of continuing . . . | Continue reading Golan is Syria! at Workers.org…workers.org/2019/05/09/golan-is-syria/

Sri Lanka: bombings a pretext for intensified repression
susan_p | greenleft.org.au | 2019-05-10
The Sri Lankan army and police have used the bombings of churches and hotels on Easter Sunday as a pretext for repression, targeting people who have no connection with the group responsible, the National Thowheed Jamath (NTJ — National Monotheism Society). | The NTJ, an extremist Islamic group, is believed to be linked to the Islamic State, based in Iraq and Syria. | Sri Lankan police have been raiding numerous Muslim groups with "Thowheed" in their name, even if they are opposed to the NTJ. As of May 2, at least 130 Muslims had been detained, according to Tamilnet. | Non-Muslims have also been affected. On…greenleft.org.au/content/sri-lanka-bombings-pretext-intensified-repression

Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi: Washington Couldn't Create a More Convenient Villain
Tony Cartalucci | mintpressnews.com | 2019-05-10
Just as America's presence in Syria was becoming increasingly awkward and unsustainable, al-Baghdadi has again emerged — just in time to remind the global public that ISIS is still an enduring threat that will require America's continued presence in the region.mintpressnews.com/abu-bakr-al-baghdadi-w…

A Republican Conspiracy Theory About a Biden-in-Ukraine Scandal Has Gone Mainstream. But It Is Not True
Robert Mackey | theintercept.com | 2019-05-10
The rumor that Joe Biden abused his power to protect his son's business interests in Ukraine is "absolute nonsense," a leading anti-corruption activist says.theintercept.com/2019/05/10/rumors-joe-b…

The Making of a Medical Insurance Spin Doctor — RAI with Wendell Potter (3/7)
Staff | therealnews.com | 2019-05-10
Wendell Potter, author of 'Deadly Spin: How Corporate PR is Killing Healthcare and Deceiving Americans', traces his life from growing up poor and Republican in Tennessee, to radicalization during the Vietnam War, to cynical journalist who just wanted to make money — on Reality Asserts Itself with Paul Jay…therealnews.com/stories/the-making-of-a-…